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Kaspersky Lab-Protected Customers Still Using Windows XP

Submitted by alison.rossetti on Tue, 08/19/2014 - 09:58

By: Kaspersky Américas on 19/08/2014

Despite Microsoft
no longer selling or providing technical support for the Windows XP operating
system, Kaspersky Lab found that 16.37 percent of Windows users were still
working on computers running this outdated operating system as of June 2014.
The "Windows
usage and vulnerabilities research," which
analyzed data from Kaspersky Security Network (KSN), also looked at the
proportion of Windows XP users among all those using Kaspersky Lab's
Windows-based products in each country.

According
to KSN data from June 2014, the Windows XP operating system was used the most
after Windows 7, which accounted for 63.40 percent of users. Kaspersky Lab
protected computers running Windows 8 and 8.1 were used by 8.72 percent and
7.22 percent respectively.

Additionally,
Kaspersky Lab analyzed the data of individual countries to assess the
proportion of Windows XP users in each country. The United States only
accounted for 4.52 percent of Kaspersky Lab protected computers using Windows
XP. Vietnam had highest number of users, accounting for 38.79 percent.
Additionally, China accounted for 27.35 percent, India had 26.88 percent and
Algeria had nearly a quarter (24.25%) of users still working on Windows XP.

Vyacheslav
Zakorzhevsky, Head of Vulnerability Research Team at Kaspersky Lab said:

"The
Kaspersky Security Network statistics show that the XP epoch is finally coming
to its end. However, a sizeable proportion of users still run this aging
operating system. Its maintenance has been discontinued by Microsoft, which
means that the manufacturer will no longer release security updates or patch
vulnerabilities which may still exist in the system. Should virus writers find
such a vulnerability, XP users will come under threat."

Although
Windows XP is still being used, Kaspersky Lab has seen a decrease in popularity
of this operating system. However, Kaspersky Lab still recommends that in order
to minimize the risk of encountering attacks involving vulnerabilities, users should
update their software regularly and use a reliable security solution equipped
with technologies to counteract exploit attacks.